Launched
on 16
August and
commissioned
at Boston
on 30
October
1942, the
FLETCHER-class
destroyer
CONY
(DD‑508)
was bound
for the
Pacific on
Christmas
day. By 6
March 1943
she was
underway
with the
destroyers
WALLER
(DD-466)
and CONWAY
(DD-507)
to screen
the
cruisers
MONTPELIER
(CL-57),
CLEVELAND
(CL-55),
and DENVER
(CL-58) as
they
bombarded
the
Japanese
airstrip
at Vila on
Kolombangara
Island.
Shortly
after
midnight,
the
American
force met
two enemy
destroyers,
one of
which was
quickly
dispatched
by a
torpedo
from the
WALLER,
the first
sinking by
a
destroyer-fired
torpedo
since the
Battle of
Balikpapan.
The
cruisers
sank the
second
destroyer
and headed
for the
Vila
airstrip
while the
destroyers
battled
the shore
batteries
to
silence.

Following
a
stateside
overhaul,
the CONY
returned
as
flagship
for the
fire
support
group
covering
the
landings
on Vella
Lavella on
15 August
1943. She
and the
destroyers
WALLER,
EATON
(DD-510),
RENSHAW
(DD-499),
SAUFLEY
(DD-465),
RADFORD
(DD-446),
GRAYSON
(DD-435),
and
LAVALETTE
(DD-448)
formed a
strike
force to
intercept
Japanese
barges
evacuating
Kolombangara.
On the
first
night,
they sank
twenty
barges,
and the
EATON
claimed a
submarine
kill. The
next
night, the
CONY,
WALLER,
EATON,
RALPH
TALBOT
(DD-390),
TERRY
(DD-513),
and TAYLOR
(DD-468)
ran off
four
Japanese
destroyers
and sank a
torpedo
boat and
another
twenty
barges.

At dawn on
27 October
1943, the
CONY and
PHILIP
(DD-498)
covered
troop
landings
in the
Treasury
Islands.
The CONY,
as fighter
director
and radar
picket,
stood off
Mono
Island’s
Laifa
Point. The
PHILIP was
off
Stirling
Island
busy
silencing
coastal
mortars
that had
damaged
the LSTs
399 and
485. That
afternoon,
U.S.
fighter
planes
drove off
a bomber
attack on
the
landing
craft, and
later the
two
destroyers
fought off
some 25
enemy
bombers,
splashing
12. The
CONY
claimed
five of
those, but
suffered
severe
damage
when the
bombers
scored two
hits. Fire
and
flooding
caused
serious
damage in
the after
engine
room,
living
spaces,
and
magazines,
and the
loss of
electricity
put three
of her
5-inch
guns out
of action.
She
retired
from the
area, as
her crew
fought the
fires
until 0630
the next
morning.
She lost
eight of
her crew
killed and
ten
wounded
and had to
return to
the states
for
repairs.

Beginning
in March
1944, the
CONY
hunted off
Bougainville
for
Japanese
barges and
submarines,
patrolled
the
Southern
Surigao
Straits,
and
supported
landings
in the
Empress
Augusta
Bay area.
On 14 June
she was en
route to
Saipan
when her
sonar
picked up
a
submarine.
Five runs
and 46
depth
charges
brought
the end of
the sub,
I-5. The
next day,
her crew
picked up
an I-5
survivor
and later
turned him
over to
the
authorities
at Saipan.
The
destroyer
screened
transports
at Saipan
and hunted
enemy
submarines
until 20
July when
she joined
the
bombardment
of Tinian
and
screened
for
submarines
during the
landings
on 24
July.
August
found the
CONY en
route to
Guadalcanal
to screen
carriers
during the
landings
on Peleliu
between 15
and 30
September.
In October
1944 she
screened
and fired
in support
of
underwater
demolition
teams and
bombardment
groups in
the Leyte
Gulf.

She was in
the Battle
of Surigao
Strait on
the night
of 24
October
positioned
north of
Hibuson
Island
with five
cruisers
and the
destroyers
AULICK
(DD-569)
and
SIGOURNEY
(DD‑643).
The battle
raged
through
the night
and ended
in a
decisive
American
victory.
That
didn’t
stop the
enemy from
supplying
their
troops on
Leyte
through
the port
of Ormoc,
which
became the
next
target of
U.S.
action. On
27
November
1944,
after the
minesweepers
PURSUIT
(AM‑108)
and
REVENGE
(AM‑110)
cleared
the
Canigao
Channel
into Ormoc
Bay, the
WALLER,
PRINGLE
(DD‑477),
RENSHAW
(DD‑499)
and
SAUFLEY
(DD‑465)
entered
the bay to
strike at
harbor
installations.
During
that
action,
the WALLER
sank a
surfaced
enemy sub
with
gunfire.
That night
and the
one
following,
the CONY,
WALLER,
RENSHAW,
and CONNER
(DD‑582)
found
Ormoc Bay
quiet and
free of
ships. On
the night
of 1
December,
however,
the CONY,
CONWAY,
EATON, and
SIGOURNEY
intercepted
an enemy
transport
and sent
it to the
bottom.
The next
day, three
new
SUMNER-class
DDs, the
ALLEN M.
SUMNER
(DD‑692),
MOALE
(DD‑693),
and COOPER
(DD‑695)
found a
very
different
situation
in Ormoc
Bay. They
immediately
came under
heavy air
attack as
they
entered
the bay
and
inside,
were met
by enemy
PT boats,
and fire
from shore
batteries.
In the
meantime,
they were
dodging
barrages
of
torpedoes
from enemy
submarines
and
destroyers.
They sank
the
destroyer
KUWA, but
the trio
lost one
of their
own, in
the melee,
the COOPER
was hit by
a torpedo
and sank
almost
immediately.

In
mid-December,
the CONY
screened
carriers
off
Mindoro
and began
1945
screening
transports
during the
Lingayen
Gulf
landings.
On 1
March, she
covered
the
destroyer
escort
FORMOE
(DE‑509),
the
minesweepers
SENTRY
(AM‑299)
and SALUTE
(AM‑294),
and two
infantry
landing
craft (LCI)
for
minesweeping
and
reconnaissance
in the
Luzon
area. In
March and
April, the
CONY’s and
CONWAY’s
guns
supported
landing on
Caballo
Island in
Manila Bay
and on
Mindanau
and Parang.
In May and
June, the
CONY
patrolled
the Davao
Gulf,
covered
landings
at Brunei
Bay,
Borneo,
and
supported
mine
sweepers
and
underwater
demolition
teams near
Balikpapan,
Borneo.
She
screened
transports
and
supported
the
landings
at
Sarangani
Bay,
Mindanau,
in July
1945.

With the
end of
hostilities,
the CONY’s
operations
included
escort
duty,
assisting
minesweepers
in the
Yangtze
River area
and Taiwan
Straits,
and
monitoring
activity
around
Shanghai.
She
returned
to the
states on
20
December
and was
decommissioned
at
Charleston,
SC, on 13
March
1946.

After her
recommissioning
and
conversion
to an
escort
destroyer
(DDE) for
antisubmarine
warfare (ASW)
operations,
she headed
for the
Korean War
zone in
May 1951.
There she
provided
gunfire
support
through
October.
Over the
next
several
years she
was busy
with
hunter-killer
operations;
NATO
exercises
in the
North
Atlantic,
English
Channel,
and
Mediterranean;
and ASW
exercises
with the
British
Royal
Navy. In
April 1958
the CONY
joined
Task Force
Alpha, an
experimental
group
specializing
in
developing
ASW
tactics.

April 1961
found Task
Force
Alpha,
which
included
the
carrier
ESSEX
(CV-9);
two
submarines;
the
destroyers
CONY,
CONWAY,
EATON,
MURRAY,
WALLER,
BACHE
(DD-470),
and BEALE
(DD-471)
in the
Caribbean.
The CONY
and other
destroyers
carried an
armed
force of
Cuban
exiles
bound for
a secret
landing in
the Bay of
Pigs on 17
April 1961
to bring
about the
overthrow
Fidel
Castro’s
Communist
regime.

The CONY’s
whaleboat
was part
of the
invasion
flotilla
led by the
EATON, but
the
landing
was no
surprise.
They
immediately
received
fire from
the beach
and later,
a Cuban
helicopter
fired on
the CONY’s
whaleboat
returning
to the
beach to
rescue
survivors.
The
disastrous
operation
cost the
Cuban
exiles and
Americans
with them
114 lives
and 1,189
captured.
The
Communist
forces
lost 106.

In October
1962 the
CONY
returned to
the
Caribbean to
participate
in the
blockade
during the
Cuban
Missile
Crisis. She
was engaged
in
hunter-killer
operations
with the
carriers
RANDOLPH
(CVS-15) and
ESSEX, and
the
destroyers
BACHE,
EATON, and
MURRAY. As
they
patrolled
the Sargasso
Sea they
made contact
with the
Soviet
submarine
B-59
prowling
along the
quarantine
line. The
destroyers,
tracker
aircraft,
and
helicopters
maintained
contact with
the sub,
which tried
unsuccessfully
to shake
them.
Beginning on
the morning
of 27
October
1962, the
CONY and
BEALE
tracked the
sub and, as
ordered,
began
dropping
practice
depth
charges,
which made
it rough
going for
the B-59.
They dogged
her for
twelve hours
before her
captain had
to surface
to recharge
his boat’s
batteries.
Soon after
the CONY’s
signalman
had
established
a
communications
link by
signal
light.

As the
American
destroyer
and Soviet
submarine
continued
toward the
northeast, a
U.S. Navy
surveillance
plane flew
over during
the night to
photograph
the B-59. It
dropped
incendiary
devices for
illumination,
but the
unexpected
explosions
startled the
watches on
both
destroyer
and sub. The
latter
quickly went
to battle
stations and
prepared to
launch her
torpedoes at
the CONY,
whose
skipper
immediately
had the
destroyer’s
signalman
flash an
explanation
and an
apology to
the
submarine.
Only later
did the
Americans
learn that
the B-59’s
torpedoes
were armed
with nuclear
warheads and
the incident
was far more
dangerous
than they
had thought.

The CONY
returned to
Norfolk and
routine
operations
along the
East Coast
and in the
Caribbean.
She took
midshipman
on a
training
cruise to
Northern
Europe;
conducted
surveillance
of Soviet
activity in
the Red Sea;
and visited
several
Middle-Eastern
ports. By
the summer
of 1967, she
was bound
for Vietnam
with the
LEARY
(DD-879),
WALDRON
(DD-699),
and DAMATO
(DD-871).
From 28
August to 24
September,
the CONY
provided
gunfire
support for
the First
Air
Cavalry’s
operations
in the II
Corps area
and, on her
second tour
in Vietnam,
for the I
and III
Corps and
navy seal
teams
operating in
the Mekong
Delta. The
CONY’s next
assignment
was with
Task Group
77.8 on
Yankee
Station in
the Gulf of
Tonkin,
followed by
plane guard
duty for the
ORISKANY (CVA‑34).
During her
last
deployment,
from 14
August 1967
to 25
December
1967, she
patrolled
the Taiwan
Straits and
was on
gunfire
support and
plane guard
duty in Cam
Ranh Bay,
Cape Saint
Jacques,
Vung Ganh
Rai, the
Saigon
River, and
Mui Ba Kiem,
Vietnam.

She returned
to Norfolk
where she
was
decommissioned
and struck
from the
navy ship
register on
2 July 1969.
On 20 March
1970 she was
towed to a
spot 60
miles off
Puerto Rico
where an
amphibious
task force
sank her
with their
3-inch and
5-inch
batteries.

From The Tin
Can Sailor,
July 2004

Copyright 2001 Tin Can Sailors.
All rights reserved.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from
Tin Can Sailors.